Penns Grove girls basketball snaps losing streak in big way

Clayton's Taylor Reed looks to make a play during Friday's game (Cathy Cramer)

CLAYTON — After losing the last four games, the Penns Grove High School girls basketball team got back on the winning track with a 52-22 rout of Clayton in a Tri-County Conference Classic game Friday.

"We had an OK game but that is not Red Devil basketball. On a scale of 1-10, we will rate it a five," said Red Devil head coach Jen Denby. "But a win is a win and we will take it. We only had one person score in double digits and that is not how we play. But we came out, got a win and we will take it."

"I had a really good game," said Winchester. "I kept my head in the game but I could not do it without my team. They help me out and support me a lot."Denby was all smiles when she talked about Winchester's performance.

"Antoinette is just built like that," said Denby. "She is a self motivator. She is always trying to do more than what is expected of her. She always tries to get extra help, so I have to give all the credit to her."

The other five Penns Grove scorers combined for 29 points and 58 rebounds. They also nabbed 16 steals. On the other side of the court, the Clippers did not give up until the final buzzer sounded. Senior captain Taylor Reed reminded her girls they had to keep fighting.

"I think Maxie (New), Kelli (Moore) and I just thought, 'You know what? If we are going to lose, we might as well try,'" said Reed. "I mean there is no point in giving up, you might as well give it everything because you got nothing to lose."

And though the Clippers netted just two points in the fourth, both teams fought until the end. In the last minute of play, there were nine steals and 10 rebounds recorded between the two teams. The Clippers also scored their only fourth-quarter points in that last minute thanks to a Reed jumper.

Clipper head coach Tracy Moore was not too upset with her team's performance.

"They gave a lot of effort but we need to a better job defensively all around," said Moore. "We are not moving to the ball and we are not moving to the pass. We are waiting for the pass to get there and then reacting to it.

"Rebounding is the other key thing that we need to work on. We need to box out the other team. I told the girls, I would rather them get a foul boxing out than not boxing out at all. The problem is we are a small team, so we need to make that contact in order to make the bigger girls foul us on the rebound, and we are not doing that. So rebounding is the first thing that we are going to work on at practice (today). But I can't be mad at the effort they gave. They gave a great effort from beginning to end and that is what we really need. We have to continue to work hard and we are going to get better every game. They just have to believe in each other."

Reed was also not very upset with her team's performance Friday.

"We hustled, we tried, we sprinted up and down the floor at the end and we never gave up," Reed said. "We even got some steals at the end. We just did not give up. Everyone that was put into the game worked hard."

The Red Devils controlled the rebound game, posting an 88-25 advantage. They also recorded 19 steals to Clayton's six.

Reed led the Clippers in scoring with 10 points. She also had a rebound and two steals. Kaymonah Praul added eight points, five rebounds and a steal.

Next up for the 1-6 Clippers is a trip to Pennsville on Monday, while the 3-5 Red Devils will wait until Thursday to host Pennsville.